Page 164 of Crucible
“It was literally two hours ago when you called us mass murderers.”
Unable to hold in my laughter anymore, I push open the cage door and crawl from the van. Luckily, the three of them are so busy arguing with one another that they don’t notice me right away.
“This is so fucking stupid,” Khalil says.
“I agree.” Aurelia, Khalil, and Thorin whirl to face me at the sound of my voice. “I’m right here.”
“Seth?” Khalil asks when he notices my hunched posture from the cage and the melancholy I haven’t completely bounced back from.
“It’s me,” I admit reluctantly.
That wariness fades when I see his relief, and I wonder, is it because Isaac doesn’t have me or that I’m not Zeke?
Aurelia rushes forward and throws herself at me. I catch her and kiss her forehead repeatedly while she stares up at me with too many questions in her eyes.
“Where were you?” Khalil demands.
“I was here.”
“Where?”
“Here. Let’s just leave it at that.” Khalil doesn’t look happy about it, but he thankfully drops it. “So, what’s for breakfast?”
Thorin lifts the huge snake he’s holding, and I make a face. Not my favorite game, but it will do.
“Damn, you caught that, Sunshine?”
She nods proudly. “Yup! Khalil scared it out of its hole, and I shot it on the first try.”
“Mm-hmm. Wow.”
Thorin is raising his canteen to his lips when my questioning gaze meets his over Aurelia’s head. He pauses, his lips pursing as he gives a subtle shake of his head.
I cough to suppress my laugh.
I’d seen him sneaking a couple of arrows out of Aurelia’s pack when he grabbed his crossbow earlier, so I figured it was more likely that he made the shot and hyped our girl up by letting Aurelia take the credit.
Thorin sips his water but chokes on it when Aurelia rests her head against my chest and says, “I saw that, Thorin.”
He swiftly changes the subject. “All right. We have bodies to bury, team. Let’s eat so we can get this over with.”
KHALIL
“Hand me that foot, would you, Sunshine?”
Aurelia gags as she lifts Pete’s severed right foot from the black tarp and offers it to Seth. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
Holding the head of the man who tried to take what was ours, I finally succeed in pulling out a particularly stubborn upper molar with pliers, and then my gaze flicks toward Aurelia. “I told you to wait in the tent.”
“You also tried to leave me at the cabin when we picked up the supplies, and my answer is the same, Khalil.” Her bravado falters when Thorin tosses a torso onto the tarp, adding it to the growing pile of limbs. “I just don’t understand how this happened,” she says quietly. “Pete seemed so nice.”
“There’s no such thing as a nice guy,” Thorin remarks as he stands and wipes the blood from his hands with the cloth hanging from his back pocket. “There are only wolves and wolves in sheep’s clothing.”
“My dad was nice,” Aurelia counters proudly.
“Oh, yeah?” Thorin laughs dryly. “Tell me about him. What did he do for a living?”
Her brows dip. “He drove trucks.”
